This invention pertains to a shopping cart of a type that is nestable with a similar cart preceding the shopping cart. This invention addresses a problem that can arise if one corner of a rear gate of the preceding cart drops into a basket of the shopping cart.
Typically, a shopping cart of the type noted above comprises a wheeled chassis, a handle structure fastened to the wheeled chassis, and a basket fastened to the wheeled chassis and to the handle structure. Typically, the basket has a front wall having an upper edge, a bottom wall, and two side walls, the front wall having an upper edge and each side wall having an upper edge.
As exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,930, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, the front, bottom, and side walls of the basket are molded from a polymeric material, in separate pieces, which are assembled. Alternatively, the front, bottom, and side walls of the basket are molded from a polymeric material unitarily or are fabricated from welded wires.
Typically, a shopping cart of the type noted above comprises a rear gate, which either is molded from a polymeric material or is fabricated from welded wires. The rear gate is mounted to the handle structure so as to be pivotable, generally about a horizontal axis, downwardly toward and upwardly away from a rest position, in which the rear gate defines a rear wall of the basket.
Typically, when nested for storage, the basket of the shopping cart is adapted to engage the rear gate of a similar cart preceding the shopping cart, at the upper edge of the front wall of the basket of the shopping cart, when the basket of the shopping cart is pushed into the basket of the preceding cart, so as to pivot the rear gate of the preceding cart upwardly from the rest position into an elevated position, in which the rear gate of the preceding cart rests either on the upper edge of just one of the side walls of the basket of the shopping cart or on the upper edges of both of the side walls of the basket of the shopping cart.
In the elevated position, unless the rear gate of the preceding cart rests on the upper edges of both of the side walls of the shopping cart, the rear gate of the preceding cart can tilt so that one corner of the rear gate of the preceding cart can drop into the basket of the shopping cart, near the side wall opposite to the side wall whereon the rear gate of the preceding cart rests. Thus, a problem arises, which is that the dropped corner into the basket of the shopping cart can engage the front wall of the basket of the shopping cart, so as to interfere with pulling of the basket of the shopping cart from the basket of the preceding cart, whereby the shopping cart cannot be easily unnested from the preceding cart.
Whether the rear gate rests on the upper edge of just one of the side walls of the basket of the shopping cart or on the upper edges of both of the side walls of the basket of the shopping cart depends upon several factors, which include the configurations, proportions, and dimensions of the respective baskets, whether the rear gate of the preceding cart is mounted loosely, and whether the basket of the shopping cart is centered with respect to the basket of the preceding cart when pushed into the basket of the preceding cart.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,448 a shopping cart of related interest is disclosed, in which the side walls of the basket have molded projections to prevent the rear gate of a preceding cart from dropping into the basket.
As provided by this invention, in a shopping cart of the type noted above, each side wall of the basket has a ledge, which projects laterally into the basket from said side wall. The ledge has an inclined surface, which is adapted to engage such a corner dropped into the basket and to guide the dropped corner upwardly along the inclined surface as the basket of the shopping cart is pulled from the basket of the preceding cart. It does not matter whether the corner drops onto the inclined surface or behind the ledge having the inclined surface, in a rearward sense, so long as the inclined surface can guide the dropped corner as mentioned. From a more generalized viewpoint, at least one of the side walls of the basket has such a ledge.
Preferably, the front, bottom, and side walls of the basket of the shopping cart are molded from a polymeric material, either in separate pieces as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,930, supra, or unitarily. Alternatively, the front, bottom, and side walls of the basket of the shopping cart are fabricated from welded wires, which are used commonly in shopping cart construction. The rear gate may be similarly made, either molded from a polymeric material or fabricated from welded wires. Usually, a rear gate molded from a polymeric material is heavier, as compared to a rear gate fabricated from welded wires, so as to exacerbate the problem discussed above.